Hino

Hello all,

I've been lurking in this forum for quite a while and most of you seem to be nice people willing to help 'strangers', so I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring and ask for some help myself.

My background is that I was U.K. born but now an Australian citizen and resident. I'm retired and travel expenses are not a problem. I have duel citizenship and duel passports and I'm a single bloke.

Reading about all your "triumphs and disasters" has made me determined to spend some time in Spain and experience the place for myself. I've been to Spain before, once doing the tourist thing to a place called 'Santa Ponza' ( excuse spelling ......awful U.K. tourist trap ), and many visits to Barcelona when I was working on the cruise ships. Although we visited the port once a fortnight, as it was our 'turnaround port' ( home port ), I got to see very little of the city or it's surrounds.

I'm looking to spend about a month in the country and my projected arrival date is late September, I have a London ticket booked for the 19th Sep. and would probably spend a few days there before travelling onto Spain having a vacation and travelling back to London before flying home. My ideal location would be a large village or small town, mainly Spanish population but with significant British Ex-Pat population so I have a chance of meaningful conversation.

The coast would be great, but relatively easy reach to the coast, or other attractions like nice walks and great scenery, or nearby towns and cities would also be nice.

Though I can hire a car, I'd rather not have the hassle of vehicle and would prefer a location with access to pubic transport. I also have the problem of getting from the nearest London serviced airport to my vacation location. ( anything less than a E100 cab ride would be nice ).


I have so many questions that I hardly know where to begin, 'so I have a little list'......

1/ Timing..............Is late September late enough in the tourist season to avoid the worst of the crowds and 'holiday season' accommodation prices ?

2/ Location............... Given the size of Spain, where would be some of the best places to spend a month at that time of the year ( Late September ) ? My main 'loves' are bars, scenery and walking

3/ Accommodation ..............I would be looking foe a one or two bedroomed self contained apartment and probably seeking a three week to one month lease. At that time of year, is this type of accommodation hard to find ? I realise that location will also affect availability and cost.

4/ Though I am getting very close to seventy. I enjoy walking and a place with a choice of scenery and opportunity to explore the local area on foot would be great.

Sorry about the long post, but I thought it best so try to spell out exactly what I was looking for before I asked for help.

Any help the forum members can provide would be much appreciated

I know that's still a long time until September............ but you can never be too prepared

Lynn R

I would say that late September is a perfect time to visit Andalucia, at any rate, the weather should still be good although it's not unknown to get some storms towards the end of the month, but places are much less crowded than in July and August.

There should be no shortage of accommodation available, either.

With regard to location, of the places in my area I would suggest Frigiliana. It is a very pretty village only a few kilometres from the coast, has a reasonably good bus service during the day to Nerja, the nearest resort. In the evenings a taxi to or from Nerja would not be too expensive. Approximately 35% of the village population is non-Spanish, but there is a good mix of nationalities rather than, as with some places, predominantly British or German. You would fly into Malaga airport, and can then reach Nerja by taking a train or bus from the airport into Malaga city centre and a bus onwards to Nerja, with a taxi to Frigiliana. There is a good choice of bars and restaurants in the village, and some great walks around.

We always take visitors there when they are staying with us and they invariably love it.

Enjoy your trip wherever you decide to base yourself.

spainrico

If you decide on Frigiliana you might like to look here

http://robinnis.files.wordpress.com/...ntain-life.pdf

an article I had published on this pretty little pueblo.

Enjoy Spain. (ps Go for Mahou beer best in Spain)

agoreira

Sound advice! We know Frigiliana very well, have friends there, and have stayed there dozens of times. September is good, we've also had some great weather and some grim weather in October, that can be very changeable. As for walking, there are reasonably easy walks there, also some very challenging one's. This guy is a Brit (Irish?), he's based in the village and does walking tours, he could probably sort you out. Another local walking group here.I've never been without a car, but I think a transfer from Málaga Airport is about £70 ?(the locals will tell us) and there's a regular bus service to the coast, Nerja. Loads of other places to choose from of course, picking one will be hard, but the best weather will probably be Costa Blanca way or Andalucia.

spainrico

The 'guy' is Irish, John Keogh, he is mentioned in my article, link in my earlier post. he is a great guy and fun (and safe) to walk with.

agoreira

Just seen you went with the guy I linked to!

agoreira

What more could he want, a personal recommendation! I've not been with him, but heard good things. These guys are the experts, they're a local serious walking, climbing group based in Frigiliana. One of the main guys, Carlos, owns Cafetería Almijara on the way into the old village. Obviously not suitable for the OP, but a good read on the local area for anyone interested. I see John Keogh is pictured with them in some photos.

Hino

Hi all,

Many thanks for your replies and suggestions. I must say that Frigiliana seems to tick a lot of boxes at the moment, but I'm a bit concerned about transport to and from the airport.

The mixing buses and taxies route isn't too attractive especially with my lack of local knowledge and poor Spanish. Also I'll be dragging a large case with me which is another consideration.

Is it difficult to get a cab from the airport directly to Frigiliana ? I'm assuming that the village is a fare way out of Malaga, and in the past I've had problems persuading cab drivers to leave the city limits. Also will the cab charge by the meter, or will I have to negotiate a price ?

As well as the links that you have been kind enough to give me, I've checked quite a few web sites for Frigiliana and the surrounding area and it does look a real pretty part of the world.

Thanks again for your help,

Hino

Lynn R

The cheapest way of getting taxi transport to Frigiliana from Malaga airport would probably be to pre-book a pickup from a local taxi firm - I just did a Google search and this company offers a one way fare of 69€ for a single passenger www.nerjataxis.net. (payable to the driver on arrival, English speaking drivers guaranteed). The taxi drivers from the rank at the airport work to a printed list of fares for each area (a copy of which is displayed on the wall of the arrivals hall if you can find it) but I imagine it would be quite a bit more expensive, although far from being reluctant to take you that distance I imagine they would snatch your hand off!

jackytoo

Phew...a thread where we all agree. I say what they said